Resilient heel



Patented Nov. 11, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrice. I

MANUEL D. GOLDMAN, OF BONE, AND HARRY GOLDEN, OF BRQOKLYN, NEW YORK.

RESILIENT HEEL.

Application filed August 26, 1922. Serial No. 584,570.

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MANUEL D. GOLDMAN and HARRY A. GOLDEN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Rome,

county of Oneida, and Brooklyn, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient Heels; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates to shoe heels adapted to absorb the shock ordinarily produced by striking the heels on the floor or ground when walking. A

An object of the invention is to effectively absorb the shock of the first impact of the heel upon the ground during walking and, thereafter, when the full weight rests upon the foot to resist further cushioning action.

The invention consists in a heel comprising a main member of relatively unyielding material having a relatively large central cavity and a central member protruding beyond the tread surface of the main member, but adapted to be pushed down flush with the surface of the latter when bearing the weight of the pedestrian, and to resume its normally protruding position when the foot is lifted and the weight of the pedestrian is removed from the heel.

It further consists in the combination of a heel of the kind described, in which the outer layer of the central portion is of substantially the same material and of the same degree of hardness as the border portion united to an inner portion of more resilient solid material. It also consists in the com bination and details of construction more specifically described hereinafter, illustrated in th accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, we have illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention; and in these drawin s;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inverted heel or a heel showing the tread surface uppermost;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section midway of said heel from the breast to the back;

' commonly used for rubber heels. 5 of the body 3 is preferably made of the Figure 3 is a transverse section therethrough on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4c is a longitudinal section through a slightly modified form of the heel, and

Figure 5 is a transverse section viewed in the direction of the arrows on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Figures 2 to 5 inclusive show the heel with the tread surface downward.

In said drawings, 1 indicates the main body of a shoe heel of conventional form, this body 1 consisting of a hollow member. the inner portion of it having been removed so as to form a symmetrical, relatively large cavity having'substantially the contour of the exterior portion of the heel. The interior cavity of said body 1 is preferably tapered slightly so that the sides thereof converge from the inner or upper surface toward the tread surface, as indicated at 2. Seated within and substantially filling the interior cavity is an elastic body designated as a whole by the numeral 3. This inner elastic body 3 protrudes beyond the tread surface of the body 1 as indicated at. 4. The said protruding portion is a part of a layer 5 which, although resilient, is relatively hard and of substantially the same consistency and degree of resilience as the body 1. The inner or upper layer 6 of the central body 3 is composed of a preferably solid but relatively more elastic material, which, in the form shown in Figures 1to 3, is provided with a flange 7 overlying the inner or normally upper surface of the body 1.

In assembling the two parts of the heel thus far described, the body 3 may be inserted into the cavity of the body 1 from the inner side and pushed into said cavity until the tread surface of the relatively hard layer 5 protrudes an eighth of an inch, more lgress, beyond the tread surface of the main 0 y 1. shoe, suitable nail holes 8 having been provided through the body 1 so that the nails inserted through the openings 8 may be driven into the shoe sole and clinched in the usual manner.

In practice it is preferred to make the body 1 of a rubber composition such as is The layer same composition as the body 1, while the The heel-may then be nailed to the V morehighly resilient inner portion 6 constituting the inner and concealed part of body 3, is preferably made also of rubber and vulcanized to the part 5 so that the body 3 forms, as it were, an integral mass.

It will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that other ways of securing the internal cushioning member within the external main bodymember may be utilized-Without evading the spirit of the invention, in so long as a material diflerence of elasticity is provided between the layers of the yieldable block forming themember 3.

In Figs. 4 and5 we have shown a heel construction in which the flange 7 illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 has been omitted fromthe yieldable body 3. In this form the exterior, relatively hard elastic portion 5 and the interior relatively more yieldable cushioning portion 6 may be combined in the same manner, as hereinbefore described with respect to the .embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, but the more resilient portion 6 may be vulcanized to the wall of the body 1 as indicated at 9, vulcanization extending only a short distance, say one eighth of an inch inward or downward. The form of heel shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be secured to the shoe sole in the customary manner by inserting nails through the openings 8 and driving them into the shoe sole and clinching them in the ordinary way.

In use, when the pedestrian brings his foot to the ground the first contact will be made by the relatively hard outside layer 5 of the inner yielding body 3. The shock of the contact will be absorbed by the more elastic inner portion 6, which will yield until the full weight of the pedestrian rests upon the foot. of the body 3 will have retreated until it is flush, with the surface of the exterior member 1, when the entire weight of the At that time the tread surface person will be received upon the combined surfaces of the body 3 and the body 1. The heel will be at this time relatively solid. Lifting of the foot for another step permits the tread layer of the body, 3 to again protrude into position to receive and absorb the shock of initial contact with the ground onthe next step.

By this construction, the shock and vibration of repeated walking on hard pavements is efiectively absorbed. The heel is simply constructed, comfortable, the resilient action is widely distributed and is less subject to uneven wear than when made of solid/rubber or of an even consistency throughout.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 4 1. A heel comprising amain outer member having a relatively large cavity formed therein and a yieldable member movable within and protruding from said cavity at the tread surface of the heel, said yieldable member comprising an outer layer possessing substantially the same degree of hardness as the main outer member, and an inner layer of rubber of greater resilience than said outer layer.

2. A heel comprising 'a main outer memberhaving a relatively large cavity formed therein and a yieldable member protruding from the cavity at the tread side of the heel, said yieldable member comprising an outer layer possessing substantially the same degree of hardness as the outer member, and an inner layer of more resilient material than the outer one, said inner layer having a concave inner face and a thin flange over- 1llyiulg and engaging the inner surface of the In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

MANUEL D. GOLDMAN. HARRY A. GOLDEN. 

